They Will Keep Coming, Until They Don’t

I often write about the need for student programs to stay relevant. In my last post I was referencing some of the new program offerings for the fall in our schools. There has always been an added layer of urgency around this in West Vancouver with several highly respected Independent Schools in our community. We know many of our local families could afford to send their children to these schools, but they choose public education. And of course they choose public education for a myriad of reasons, but we know that high quality teaching and learning is right at the top of the list.

So, while we often speak about the student recruitment challenges in our schools, this last year we have turned our attention to staff recruitment (in all jobs from educational assistants, to teachers to administrators) in ways we never have before. The change from surplus to shortage of teachers provincially has definitely changed our thinking. We used to get up to 100 or more applicants on openings and now we just get a handful. Of course the biggest shift in British Columbia was a Supreme Court ruling that led to the reinstatement of class size and composition language and was the driver behind almost an instant need for thousands of teachers across the province. Beyond this, are the more local effects and for us housing affordability and commute times are ones that often are mentioned. And also at the same time a changing workforce, with more staff turning down full-time employment and opting for lifestyle over income.

Just as it is sometimes taken for granted that students will always just keep coming to our schools, so it is for staff. With attracting students I saw some districts take the approach that they just needed to keep doing more of the same to ensure students attended local schools. We have taken a different approach, we have more choice programs, we have embraced a digital culture with learning and focused on new ways to organize and assess learning. Turning to staff, I think it also foolish to try to do just more of the same with recruiting and think we will get different results. I think the modern teacher has some different motivations and life outlook than even new teachers a decade ago. I am amazed, for example, by how many teachers only want part-time work as they want to have a business on the side or want to flexibility to travel or do other things.

While there is still work to be done around harmonization, most comparable positions offer fairly similar salaries and benefits across the province. As this can maybe work in some sectors – we can’t just pay people more to recruit them from other districts. And salaries and benefits are not what I am hearing as the driving decisions around where people work. It is more about culture and flexibility. With the challenge of housing affordability and traffic congestion, we need to offer something, that will make people who have longer commutes (they need to drive through other districts) come and work for us.

This is a newer challenge for us, and not one that gets tightly solved in one blog post.

So for now there are some things we are doing:

we are helping cover the costs of schooling so existing staff can pursue advanced degrees in areas of need

we are exploring employee-specific childcare options – something we hear as a driver behind decisions

we are advocating for more local housing options and transportation improvements (truly longer term thinking)

we are asking our newer teachers what will keep them here (we too often rely on dated stories about why people choose to work in one place over another)

Many of our most talented staff (in a variety of roles) spend up to an hour commuting to work each day. And when I ask them about it they speak about the culture of schools, the flexibility and support for them professionally and the chance to work in a high performing, talent rich environment. Ensuring all staff feel this will be an ongoing challenge for us as leaders.

I have spent the last decade here almost daily thinking about the programs and opportunities we needed to ensure our schools were the places that parents would choose for their children. I now have those same thoughts, when I think about our staff. In order to continue to be a destination for students, we need to continue to attract and retain amazing administrators, teachers and support staff.

I am always curious about other ideas people have on this or strategies people have seen be successful.

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4 Responses

3 pluses for me, personally: Our district has always valued Student Support Services, Learning Resources, and Professional Development – things that validate our day-to-day working conditions and professional autonomy 😊

Great working environment and supportive administration are imperative but in a city (Metro VCR) where a townhouse on the periphery is half a million, a house 1-1.5 million, gas is most expensive in Canada ($1.44 as I write this) a teacher can have the best position, environment etc. but if they cannot feed themselves, house themselves, live a reasonable lifestyle etc. they will look elsewhere either in location or occupation.
As a teacher at the top of the scale married to someone with similar income we are finding it tougher and tougher to make ends meet-one only wonders about younger teachers entering the local market with student loans, zero equity, etc.
It is only anecdotal but I have heard that it is getting harder and harder to recruit French Immersion teachers from outside BC and almost impossible to get them to stay once they enter the years where they want a family of their own. They come for a few years, the district invests in them, they become a member of community and once they decide to settle down, they do the math and in comparison, can live in a small condo here while home, typically Montreal or Quebec, they can afford a house, two cars and a better lifestyle.
Work environment, relationships, autonomy etc. are key but salaries must keep up with the very real costs of Vancouver.